Math Research Library Flips!

We have begun our project to move almost all math/stat books from Math Storage to our main collection, and, in turn, move all journals to Math Storage. The books will flow in call number order from A to Z, main floor to upper floor. Reuniting our book collection should make user browsing easier and will bring back immediate access to hundreds of classic titles.

Since the majority of our journals are now online, the paper volumes are used less and less. Thus the decision was made to store all math/stat journals in Math Storage in call number order. Anytime a paper volume is needed, though, don’t hesitate to ask for it. Requesting volumes thru the catalog or via email ahead of your trip to MRL is a convenient way to get these materials. MRL staff will retrieve on demand as staffing allows. We usually go several times a day.

We will try to concentrate the louder activities involved with this move to the morning hours when fewer patrons are in the library. We hope to finish this project mid-Spring 2012.

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Mathematicians Protest Scholarly Journal Publishing

As you may be aware, a recent Timothy Gowers blog on commercial journal publishing problems ignited a protest joined by thousands of other academics. You can follow the conversations and activities by exploring the links in our Scholarly Publishing Issues box to the right.

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Etext Pilot Could Save Students $$

UW Information Technology will be running an etext pilot beginning in spring quarter focused on providing low cost etextbooks in a collaborative teaching environment. The pilot is designed to enable both access to high quality digital educational resources (eTexts) and new tools for teaching and learning with those resources, including the ability to search, highlight, and annotate texts, collaborate, and interact. UW IT is currently seeking instructors to participate in the pilot. Two vendors gave demonstrations in December: Courseload and Coursesmart. The CourseLoad product is strong on collaboration and annotation tools. CourseSmart provides more options for access and more readily available textbook content. Given the differences in the two systems it was decided to pilot both systems.

As seen an Indiana University pilot, substantial cost savings are available to eText users. This helps to reduce the financial burden on students, and to increase access to course materials. More information is available on the web at: http://www.washington.edu/itconnect/teach/etext.html.

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New Research Resource: Scopus

Elsevier’s Scopus database is available to UW users on a trial basis for the remainder of 2012. The UW Office of Research coordinated this subscription. Continuing access will depend on evaluation and funding. The access url is http://www.scopus.com. You can also access it as a tab on the SciVerse platform which includes Science Direct journals. It is also listed on our homepage under the Research Resources link.

News Flash

Our brand new Mathematics Research Library homepage should appear in the next week or so. Let us know what you think once made public.

UW dissertations and theses are moving online in 2012. The UW Graduate School and UW Libraries will begin accepting dissertations and theses electronically for online publication in UW Libraries’ Research Works collection during Winter Quarter. While optional during Winter Quarter, electronic deposit of dissertations and theses will become mandatory later in 2012. Students can choose from several access options. More information to come.

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Tips of the Month:

UW Proxy Bookmarklet

Most of the databases, electronic journals and e-books available through the Libraries are restricted to UW faculty, students and staff. If you want to connect to a UW-restricted resource from outside of the UW campus network, you must log in through the UW Libraries off-campus proxy:

If you often do your research from off-campus, we recommend you install the very convenient proxy bookmarklet on your browser’s bookmarks toolbar. This bookmarklet lets you authenticate yourself without having to move from the webpage you are on. More info….

Springer’s My Copy Ebooks
Personal Copies Available for $24.99

UW students, faculty, and staff may purchase for their own use, a paper bound copy of most Springer ebooks in UW’s subscribed collection. These are mostly titles from 2005+ in mathematics, statistics, computer science, and physics. Access Springerlink via an UW on-campus or proxied account to find a book. The symbol indicates UW access. Check at the top of the title’s record for this text in the orange bar:

Buy a Print Copy (USD 24.95)

MyCopy (Printed Books)
Because your library provides access to one or more Springer eBook packages, SpringerLink exclusively offers you MyCopy books. You can order a printed copy of this book in black-and-white with a full-color, soft cover. It will be shipped conveniently to your home or work address. The delivery time is approximately 8-11 business days.The price is USD 24.95 per book and includes shipping and handling.

INTERVIEWS WITH MATHEMATICIANS

Cornell’s Eugene B. Dynkin Collection of Mathematics Interviews

Cornell University Library has acquired a collection of nearly 150 audio and video recordings of interviews of mathematicians–many are Russian mathematicians–conducted over 50 years by Eugene Dynkin, Cornell’s Emeritus A. R. Bullis Professor of Mathematics. The recordings are now available online.

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IMU Blog on Mathematical Journals

The IMU and the ICIAM have created a joint working group to study “whether or not a joint ICIAM/IMU method of ranking mathematical journals should be instituted, and what other possible options there may be for protecting against the inappropriate use of impact factors and similar manipulable indices for evaluating research.”

Before going ahead and taking any further action the IMU and ICIAM want to
explore opinions on a larger scale and get as much input as possible from the mathematical community. That is why a “Blog on Mathematical Journals” has been installed. Input from a wide range of persons is wanted to discuss this important issue and prepare for the final decision process.

Welcome to the new academic year!

EBooks@UW Libraries: Math & Stat

In addition to the thousands of volumes shelved in Math Research Library and elsewhere on campus, Math and Stat researchers have access to many ebooks in their disciplines. Most math and stat ebooks can be found in these collections:

Scanner Now Available

All UW Libraries branch libraries now have at least one scanner available for public use. These new scanners were funded by STF funds. Ours is attached to MRL’s sit-down PC in the center of our main floor. Users must log into this PC with their UWNetID.

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In response to requests from MathSciNet users and librarians, MathSciNet now offers tutorials on how to get the most out of searching. These tutorials treat each of the tabbed areas of MathSciNet—Publications, Authors, Journals, and Citations—as well as Free Tools and Preferences. The tutorials help users to take advantage of the rich structure of the databases underlying MathSciNet–most will find a feature or search of use that they have not previously used.

This exhibit marks International Open Access Week and is displayed in the Allen Library, North Lobby, Oct. 10-31, 2011.

Scholarly publishing is in a state of flux. While the book and journal remain the primary vehicles for communicating published scholarship, how their content is reviewed, packaged, paid for, distributed, discovered, accessed, and preserved has changed over the last few years and continues to change rapidly. Many traditions of scholarly publishing remain, but new options, driven by new technologies and changing economic models, are now available and are becoming increasingly accepted in the scholarly community.

We invite you to explore some of those options in this exhibit. We hope this content is informative, that it answers some questions while raising others, and that it brings to light some of the problems that the academic community faces in the current scholarly publishing environment.

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UW Libraries Research Commons

The UW Libraries Research Commons, located on the ground floor of the Allen Library South, has many spaces available for students and faculty to support group research, presentations, seminars, and colloquia. The Research Commons opened a little less than one year ago, and is designed as an evolving, flexible space that fosters interdisciplinary conversation and provides research support via the Libraries and campus partnerships.

Graduate Student Workshops: In partnership with the Graduate School, the Libraries is kicking off a new year of graduate student workshops in the Research Commons.

Drop-in Writing Consultations: The Odegaard Writing and Research Center is now offering morning drop-in consultations in the Research Commons — for graduate students only — twice a week. Tutors staffing these consulting hours are experienced in supporting graduate level research and writing for a wide range of academic and professional purposes. Autumn Quarter: Mondays and Thursdays 10:30am-noon. No reservations required. First-come, first served.

Whiteboard Capture: The Research Commons features whiteboard surface tables, mobile whiteboards, whiteboard walls and dry-erase markers for checkout. We also have an EBeam Edge interactive whiteboard system that can be checked out and used within the Research Commons to turn any whiteboard surface into a digital and interactive copyboard. Use the EBeam to create a video or image capture of a presentation, brainstorming session, or TA consultation in the Research Commons.

Interested in seeing your students’ work displayed in the space for a poster session or longer-term exhibit? Contact uwlibrc@uw.edu.

Summer Tips From UW Libraries

Going on vacation? Looking for a good book? Graduating? Searching for work? Get summer tips from UW Libraries on how to renew your books online and continue borrowing. Thousands of DVDs and audio books are also available for your summer enjoyment.

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arXiv Submission Stats by Discipline

See the fullsize graph showing submission rates by discipline, 1991-2010:

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UC and Springer e-Book Usage Survey of Interest

A new report, UC Libraries Academic e-Book Usage Survey, presents the results of a 2010 survey of 2,569 University of California faculty, staff, and students. Topics covered include University of California reader preference for e-books vs. print books, valued e-book features, and an assessment of reader experiences with Springer e-books during 2009 and 2010. The Executive Summary may be of interest and is on p. 4.

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Martha Takes Summer Leave

Math librarian, Martha Tucker, will be away from the library this summer, July 1 to September 23. Linda Whang, UW Libraries’ computer science librarian, will work 20 hours/week as Acting Head of Math Research during that time. Linda can help you with all your reference questions, purchase suggestions AND computer science! You may contact Linda at our usual email address, mathlib@uw.edu.

Saundra Martin and our two students, Jennifer and Michael, will also be here to help you as usual. Martha will return on Sept. 26.

UW Libraries materials and student helper budgets are looking better for the coming biennium. Other areas of the Libraries’ budget will be affected by this biennium’s cuts, but layoffs are not anticipated. The branch library structure looks to be stable.

Faculty Fund for Library Excellence

The UW Faculty Senate has unanimously approved a resolution establishing the Faculty Fund for Library Excellence.

Passed by the senate on March 10 and established March 25, the donation fund could help compensate for budget losses at the UW Libraries, and return the Libraries to their previous ranking.

The Faculty Council on University Libraries kicked off the fund with a $2,700 donation. Joyce Cooper, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and chair of the council, said donation goals will be discussed during the council meeting on April 6.

Thanks go to the voting members of the Faculty Council on University Libraries for this show of support for the Libraries:

According to the UW Libraries Triennial Survey, faculty members rate University Libraries the most important source of information for their work. From 1980 onward, the UW had been in the top 15 percent of American and Canadian research libraries, according to data from the Association of Research Libraries. Now, though, because of budget cutbacks, it’s in the top 25 percent.

Donations will be used to buy and preserve books, journals and other materials for libraries on all three UW campuses: Seattle, Tacoma and Bothell.

Tuesday, April 12, Libraries staff and students will wield cameras, solicit comments, and gather statistics for a 24-hour period to illustrate the value of libraries through stories, photographs and statistics.

Libraries Snapshot Day is a nation-wide effort sponsored by the American Library Association to illustrate the importance of libraries and to show the vast range of services and resources we provide to the campus, community and state. The goal is to create a one-day “snapshot” of what goes on in libraries by collecting user quotes, images, photos, and data related to library activity. We want to illustrate the kinds of services offered by the UW Libraries, and most importantly, the value these services add to teaching, research, and scholarship.

The information gathered will become part of a historic archive in the UW Libraries. Selected photos will be featured in our public Snapshot webpage and may be used in future library promotional material. This event is being conducted in all UW Libraries on all campuses.

Send us any comments you might have about Mathematics Research Library or the UW Libraries in general. The webpage below has links to tools you can use to send any comments or photos you want to share.

Nifty LaTex Tool

Statsnetbase Ebook Trial

Our subscription to the Statsnetbase collection of CRC/Taylor & Francis ebooks ended in March. However, there is more purchase flexibility now so we are now considering selective purchase of past, present and future titles. While the collection does not include textbooks, it does offer high-level titles of use to statisticians and researchers from a wide range of disciplines. Please review their titles and content and try out the search interface at http://www.statsnetbase.com. Send your comments to mathlib [at] uw.edu. The trial runs until November 13, 2010.

Ebooks Advisory Survey

Math Research Library has provided you with 2 ebooks packages, Springer Math/Stat Ebooks and Statsnetbase, for the last few years. We are at the point where we need to decide how to proceed. I’ve posted a two question advisory survey intended to gather your opinion and comments about ebooks in this academic library. Please click here to take the short survey. This survey will be open through the end of the quarter.

Summer Tips from the Libraries

WorldWideScience.org

You can now find non-English scientific literature from databases in China, Russia, France, and several Latin American countries and have your search results translated into one of nine languages. With the beta launch in June, real-time searching and translation of globally-dispersed collections of scientific literature is possible. This new capability is the result of an international public-private partnership between the WorldWideScience.org Alliance and Microsoft Research, whose translation technology has been paired with the federated searching technology of Deep Web Technologies.

WorldWideScience.org now provides federated searching of national scientific databases in 65 countries, covering some 400 million pages of science. In addition to other WorldWideScience Alliance members, key partner organizations taking part in the ceremony included the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China), and ICSTI.